Syrian violence spills into neighboring Lebanon

A Sunni Muslim gunman takes position behind sandbags in the Sunni Muslim dominant Bab al-Tebbaneh neighborhood in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, during clashes with Alawites, Aug. 21, 2012. The fighting between Sunni Muslims and Alawites in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli are another spillover from the war in neighboring Syria, security and medical sources said on Tuesday.

Stringer / Reuters

Smoke rises from a residential building in the Sunni Muslim dominant neighborhood of Bab al-Tebbaneh in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, during clashes between Sunni Muslims and Alawites, Aug. 21.

Two people were killed and more than 60 wounded in clashes between Sunni Muslims and Alawites in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli in another spillover from the war in neighboring Syria, security and medical sources said on Tuesday.

Gunmen in the Sunni district of Bab al-Tabbaneh and their Alawite rivals in Jebel Mohsen exchanged gun and grenade fire in sporadic fighting overnight and into the day, despite action by Lebanese army troops deployed in the port city, residents said.

Chronic Sunni-Alawite tensions in Tripoli have been heightened by the 17-month-old, mainly Sunni, uprising in Syria against President Bashar al-Assad, an Alawite. Clashes in the city killed 15 people in early June.Continue reading the full story.